People are going to take action if they feel certain about what you have to say. The reason your audience moves from ZMOS to FMOS to SMOS to UMOS is their certainty in your message. According to HBR article “How Certainty Transforms Persuasion,” the authors write that according to their research and findings “People who are certain of their beliefs are more likely to buy, buy sooner, and spend more. They’re more likely to sign petitions and to vote. They’re more willing to express their opinions, endorse products, advocate for causes, and try to persuade others to adopt their views. They’re better able to withstand attacks on their own beliefs and more inclined to challenge opponents.” Your objective is to move through the MOS from uncertainty to certainty if you want to achieve your objective.

A person like me going to a U2 concert for the first time in his life is not the same on the certainty spectrum as a person who has attended U2 concerts over 100 times. Though I like U2, but I am not as high on the certainty spectrum as a person who has attended so many U2 concerts. For U2 to become one of the great rock bands, it needs a boat load of loyal fans to make that happen. Similarly, you have to keep this idea in mind if you want a similar following through your speaking. If you are speaking to people, you have a chance to be a rock star. Though you may not be singing top 10 hits, but the feeling you get is that of a being a rock star performing in front of an attentive audience. You just can’t afford to disappoint them since every performance is your opportunity for an audience to take some kind of action that gets close to achieving your objective.

﻿How do you get people to become certain? ﻿

According to the same article, it happens through consensus, repetition, ease, and defense. To understand a good current example, let’s look at Donald J. Trump presidential run during the summer of 2015 which he likes to refer to as the “summer of Trump.”

ConsensusPeople like social validation, commonly known as consensus effect. If others believe in your message, then their belief is further strengthened. In addition, they are going to try to get other people to adopt their view. Because of consensus effect, you have to encourage people to post positive things about you if they are favorable toward your message. Though there will be some who are going to be negative, you have to make sure that majority of what people are saying about you is positive to sway the fence sitters.

Donald Trump does this masterfully by citing the polls that have him at the trop and telling people the large crowd that attend his speech. Through social validation, Trump gets more interest from media that results in a larger crowd to attend his events. The more publicity he gets, it keeps him at the top of all polls. Large crowd shows to those who are watching on television or social media the enthusiasm Trump’s candidacy has generated and gets more people to pay attention to him and even support him.

RepetitionPeople tend to remember your message if you keep repeat it. Marketers know this real well. Donald Trump knows this real well too. He never gets tired of telling people how rich he is, how smart he is, how patriotic he is, how great a deal maker he is, why so many people love him and so on and on. The media reports it and people start saying it and eventually start believing it based on the results we are seeing in the polls. I believe Trump’s success has a lot to do with his ability to sell the idea of Trump the President better than anyone or any commercial. The proof of this is that he is leading the polls in the GOP race on leadership, economy, terrorism, immigration, etc. Trump has never held a public office, but a large number of people are certain that he is the man for the job.

Another technique of repetition that Trump uses effectively he poses a question to his audience such as “Who would you have negotiate with China? He or Jeb Bush?” Again, he gets the audience to become even more certain that he is the only one who knows how to fix the mess that they are seeing and feeling.

Trump keeps repeating how great he is and how great he is going to make America, and more and more people are slowly coming around believing him. According to the article repetition technique can help “translate personal support for your idea into increased certainty about it---and then into greater public endorsement.”

EaseTrump is getting so much media attention that he makes it hard to know that there is anyone else running besides him. So when they are polled who they are supporting, Trump comes out on top in all the polls in all the states. Trump was known before entering the race through his TV show called “Apprentice.” He has continued being in the media and thus shuts out all his opponents from getting any free media.According to one article, Trump’s speaking during the debate was rated at a third grade level. Because he was so easy to understand, he won the debate. Trumps speaks in a very simple language using words like “terrible,” “disaster.” “killers,” etc. People can relate to this word since they evoke emotions. Donald Trump shows an ease with which he is going about campaigning. He uses both the social and news media real well. Also, when he is speaking, he uses no teleprompter and his speech is filled with stories about him mostly on how great he is and because he is great only he can make America great again.

DefenseWhen people are able to defend against an attack, it makes them more certain of their beliefs. With Donald Trump candidacy, people that support him are able to defend against those who attack him as not being that serious due to lack of his experience and being a television celebrity. They defend it by saying that those with a lot of experience have not been able to solve the problems the country faces and make them more certain of Trump’s viability as a candidate and a potential President. Many are ready to defend Trump because he is saying what they believe and Trump reinforces their beliefs thus make them even more certain that Trump is the right man for the President. They believe what Trump has to say about illegal immigration, companies moving jobs abroad, unfair trade deals, defeating ISIS, etc. They see that only Trump is talking like the way they feel and they are willing to defend him even though Trump is a billionaire and has very little in common with a large portion of his major supporters. In a sense, Trump has created a movement and he did it so fast that others are still don’t have an answer to his quick rise in polls and his ability to stay at the top.

If you want to be successful in anything, you need to move people from uncertainty to certainty to high certainty. As you can see how Trump does it effectively through consensus, repetition, ease and defense. You too can use the same approach and achieve your objective. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay Oza is the founder and business development consultant at 5ToolGroup. We help companies sell products and solutions using our 5Tool Methodology that integrates sales, marketing, partnerships, customer development and agile/lean methodology with a strong business focus. We believe that to thrive today, you have to be constantly looking for new ways to do lot more with lot less. This is the only insurance for success today. You can reach me at jay@5toolgroup.com.